Love's Meddling
by ImaginationForger14
Summary: Artemis has decided to befriend Percy Jackson after he takes the weight of the sky for her. She believes that she only wants to be his friend, but Aphrodite knows better than that. So she takes matters into her own hands. But a mistake on the goddess of love's side could change the entire game.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:Well then dear readers, here is the first story that I shall present to you. Fair warning, this will be a drama/romance centered tale, though action-packed fight scenes, adventures and comedy are still abundant, as the life of Percy Jackson tends to be. Pay close attention as I share with you this journey of uncertainty, this story of supposedly impossible situations, this tale of love, magic and love magic. Also, Zoe speaks normally in this for my convenience.**

 **Disclaimer:Rick Riordan owns the Percy Jackson series, not me.**

Percy Jackson was looking down at the dying form of Zoe Nightshade, someone he could call a comrade, and maybe even a friend, with great regret. He blamed himself for this happening, he thought that if he was stronger, he could have saved her.

"Can't you heal her with magic?" He asked Artemis, goddess of the Hunt and Moon. "I mean...you're a goddess."

Artemis shook her head. "Life is fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do." She did try, but Zoe stopped her. They shared a look, and tears gathered in Artemis' eyes. Artemis could feel and hear Zoe's thoughts, her worries. "Zoe...you are my dearest friend and the greatest of all my hunters, don't forget that no matter what, I will always be proud of you," Artemis said to her.

Zoe smiled and looked at Thalia. "I'm sorry for fighting with you, I think that we could have gotten along really well." Thalia started to cry and said that everything Zoe said was true, that she was the one who should be sorry. Zoe shook her head and looked at Percy, who she could tell was feeling guilty. "There was nothing you could have done, both of you."

She looked straight into Percy's eyes. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?" He nodded and gave her the pen. "Ah, Anaklusmos, I was a fool to have given you to that bastard Herakles. But you are nothing like him, and I am truly honored that you wield my blade." She gripped the pen hard. "Stars," she whispered contently. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

Artemis knew what she meant and finally started crying. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

Zoe did not move again. Thalia and Annabeth cried into each other's shoulders, Percy sobbed softly and Frederick Chase looked on and comforted his daughter with sadness in his eyes. Artemis closed Zoe's eyes and muttered a few words in Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smoke escaped her lips. It entered Anaklusmos, still in Zoe's hand, and it glowed briefly. Artemis' eyes widened in surprise before the dust exited the pen and rested on Artemis' outstretched hand. Artemis said a blessing, and blew the dust into the night sky. Nobody had noticed Artemis doing these things. As the dust ascended, Zoe's body glowed and followed it, leaving behind a slightly different looking Riptide. Zoe's glowing body caught everyone's attention, and they watched as it ascended high into the sky before disappearing in a flash of light. When they looked closely at where the body disappeared, they saw the stars shining brighter in a pattern, a new constellation was made. It depicted a girl with a bow, running across the sky. Everyone smiled.

* * *

When everyone was settled down, Artemis took the demigods to Olympus on her chariot. She transformed it into an actual sleigh with two rows of seats. Annabeth and Thalia were told to sit in the back, so that Artemis could talk with Percy. Percy was scared for his life when he heard that. Making sure that everyone was comfortable, Artemis took off into the sky. They ascended quickly, too quickly for Thalia's liking, but slowed down to a moderate speed. Thalia just closed her eyes, while Annabeth looked at Percy worriedly.

Artemis looked at Percy cowering in fear beside her said, "Percy, I want to thank you for taking the weight of the sky from me, not a lot of people would have even thought of doing something so excruciatingly painful." Annabeth saw her lips move, but couldn't hear anything. Apparently Artemis wanted her conversation private, so Annabeth settled for getting it out of Percy later and just sleeping for the meantime. Percy blinked once and opened his mouth to say something, but didn't know what to say. "Percy, Zoe seemed to think very highly of you, and she has never, in the many years that I have known her, said anything good about a man. Your adventures before also paint you as someone trustworthy and reliable. You might not know it, but the gods and goddesses you have interacted with praise you and yours abilities, even Ares and Dionysus. Your actions today have fully cemented in my mind that you are a good person and," Artemis paused as if in thought. "And I would like to be your friend, if that is alright with you."

When Artemis started talking of people praising him, Percy's eyes widened in surprise, then he proceeded to open and close his mouth like a fish, before he promptly passed out when Artemis asked to be his friend. The stress from the quest and holding up the sky, combined with the emotional state he was in due to Zoe and Bianca's deaths, was already taxing him, but the shock of what Artemis told him stretched his mind pretty thin, and being told that Artemis, _the man-hating_ goddess herself, wanted to be his friend pushed him over his limits.

Artemis chuckled. "Rest well hero, you deserve it," she said as she put a blanket over him. She remained silent for the rest of the trip, but she often found herself thinking of Percy and even staring at hm on occasion. She thought nothing of it, simply believing that she was worried about a potential friend. Unbeknownst to her, back in Olympus, Aphrodite sensed something, something she hadn't sensed in a long time, and she smirked. _'This will be fun,'_ the love goddess thought.

* * *

The throne room became silent as Artemis stormed in, followed by the three demigods. Poseidon shrunk down to human size and hugged his son, while Athena checked on here daughter. "Ah Artemis, you have returned, and you brought the demigods with you," Zeus said to his daughter. Percy and Thalia didn't like the way he said demigods, making it sound like they were annoying insects, but Annabeth stopped them from doing anything that they would regret.

Artemis walked to the center of the room and looked at Zeus. "Father, these demigods saved me. Without their help, I would still be suffering under the weight of the sky, and Annabeth Chase and the Ophiotaurus would be in the hands of the Titans."

Zeus glanced at the demigods in question and grunted. "Yes, and for that I am grateful. However, the both of them are quite powerful, and are known to be rebellious. Thalia even tried to take the power of the Ophiotaurus for herself. We cannot allow such dangerous and unpredictable people to be the ones of the prophecy!"

"I say we kill them!" Ares said as he already started sharpening his sword.

"No! I had such great plans for their love lives!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

"They wouldn't have turned out like that if they just ate more cereal!" Demeter said, holding up a box of cereal.

All the other gods and goddess shouted at her, "SHUT UP DEMETER!"

Everyone continued arguing, until the throne room started shaking violently, effectively making everyone shut their mouths. The smell of the sea filled the room as Poseidon stood up, trident in hand. He had a bright sea-green aura around him. His sheer magical power, powered by his barely restrained rage, scared everyone in the room.

Zeus, despite his fear, decided to be an idiot and taunt his brother. "Something you want to say, fish-breath?" It evidently wasn't the right thing to say, as he found himself pinned to his throne with a prong of Poseidon's trident on either side of his neck, which was bleeding ichor. Everyone backed away from Poseidon, whose wrath was legendary, even among the gods.

"You will not harm my son," The god of the sea spoke evenly, in an almost calm manner. But anyone listening could hear the menace and promise of pain in his voice. His magic flared with every syllable, and the room shook with every word from the Earth-Shaker.

"Fine, have it your way Poseidon," Zeus spit out. Poseidon retrieved his trident and sat back down. Slowly, everyone followed his example.

"Now that that's out of the way, I would like to personally reward these brave heroes," Artemis said, getting her funny looks from everyone, as she generally didn't like to help out males. she approached Thalia. "Sister, it has come to attention that I am in need of a new Lieutenant." Thalia's eyes widened.

"A-are you saying t-that..."

"Yes, I am offering you the position of Lieutenant of the Hunt, my right-hand. You would be eternally young and never age. You could escape the prophecy that is supposed to come to fruition tomorrow."

Thalia started tearing up, and she looked to Percy who nodded at her. "Yes, I will be glad to serve you, my lady." Artemis smiled and told her to recite the vow. Thalia spoke clearly and in an almost whisper like voice said, " _I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."_

"I accept your oath, welcome to the Hunt, sister." Thalia glowed silver for a moment, before a small silver aura surrounded her her. She then turned to Percy. She pressed her finger against his forehead and he glowed a dimmer silver than Thalia, and he gained a less noticeable aura around him. Percy gave Artemis a questioning glance. "I heard that you are absolutely horrible with a bow, so I gave you my blessing, it should help," she said while smiling at him. "But remember, practice makes perfect." Artemis looked around and saw everyone was looking at her like she was an alien. "What? He's nice and he _held up the sky_ for me, of course I would respect him." They stopped staring but would still glance at her every now and then before shaking their heads. Well, that applied to everyone except Aphrodite, who would send Artemis knowing looks that the goddess of the Hunt ignored. Soon, the demigods found themselves back in Artemis' chariot, with Percy still sitting in the front with Artemis, Thalia still having her eyes closed as they flew, and Annabeth still annoyed that she couldn't hear the conversation between Artemis and Percy.

Said conversation started when Artemis asked Percy, "So? Do you want to be friends?" Percy looked skeptical, but eventually nodded. "Great, now then, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself." And so for the rest of the journey back to Camp Half-Blood, Artemis and Percy swapped stories and little pieces of information about themselves. By the time they arrived at Camp Half-Blood, the goddess and demigod realized that they had a lot in common, and that they would be great friends.

* * *

 _ **Later, in Olympus**_

Apollo was on his way to give Artemis something for her sore back, when he was stopped by a rather scarcely clothed Aphrodite. She smiled at him and came within inches of him, their bodies nearly touching. Apollo's mind became fixed on the temptress in front of him. He watched her as she walked around him in her tight, low-cut dress that left little to the imagination. Apollo didn't realize that Aphrodite put on her charm magic to its max, making him little more than an obedient pup in her presence.

"So, what are you doing Apollo?" She said in a melodic voice, charmspeak lacing her every word. Apollo was hypnotized by her voice, he would do anything she said.

"I-I was going to give Artemis this tonic for her back," he said holding up a bottle. Aphrodite snatched the bottle from his hands and inspected it. She nodded before turning back to him.

"Now, dear, I'm also worried for your dear twin, after all, a goddess has to always look her best." She was pouting slightly, and her stance made it hard to focus on a single part of her. She smirked internally, _'This is just too easy.'_ She brought out a small vial and pored it's contents into the bottle of ointment. "Now, I just made this much more effective, but do tell her to take this while sitting down, it can be very strong." She looked him directly in the eye, and he nodded. Neither of them noticed the potion temporarily turn a bright pink before returning to its normal color. "Now then Apollo, you should hurry along, wouldn't want to keep Artemis waiting." And with that, he began walking to his twin's temple, love-potion-laced tonic in hand. Aphrodite giggled from where she stood. SHe went back to her temple, and she noticed that she took the wrong potion with her. She shrugged. _'Oh well, this just makes things more interesting.'_

"Arty!" Apollo called out when he got into Artemis' temple. He narrowly dodged an arrow to the leg.

"Don't call me Arty!" The voice of his sister responded from down the hall. She took the bottle from his hands and pushed out the door.

"You should drink that while sitting down, it's pretty stro-" Apollo was cut-off as Artemis slammed the door in his face. Heading her idiot brother's advice, she went to her bedroom and sat on her bed. She took the whole bottle in one go. She suddenly started feeling light-headed and hot all over. She collapsed onto her bed. Her last thoughts were about Percy, before she blacked out.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 1**_

* * *

 **AN:Well then, tell me what you guys think. Till next time!**


	2. Chapter 2:Revelations

Love's Meddling: Revelations 11/29/2016

 **AN: Well then, I wasn't expecting nearly as much support as I did get for the first chapter, so I'm pretty excited. And yeah, thanks to all of you who followed/favorite this, means a lot. Also, please leave reviews so I can know what you guys think.**

 **Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns the Percy Jackson series, not me.**

 _ **The next day**_

Percy woke up to feeling a presence in his cabin. When he opened his eyes, he found a pair of silver ones staring right back at him. Artemis made an uncharacteristically girlish "EEP" when she made eye contact with Percy. She scrambled backwards until she hit the wall. "I-I uh, cametowakeyouupforsomearcherypracticesomeetmeinthearcheryrangein30minutes," she blurted out before running out the door like she was being chased by Kronos himself.

"What just happened?" Percy asked to no one in particular. He wasn't expecting someone, or something, to answer him, especially not the voice of a dead girl in his head.

" _I'm not sure,"_ said the voice of Zoe Nightshade.

Percy did a pretty good impression of Artemis when he heard the voice of the dead Huntress. He looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice. "Z-Zoe? Are y-you haunting me for letting you d-die?" he asked aloud to thin air.

" _Ha, you should have seen the look on your face! Haunting you?"_ she replied, and Percy could have sworn he _heard_ her wipe a tear out of her eye. _"You might be a good man, but you are still a stupid boy. You might want to take a look at the sword I left you, I made a few adjustments."_

When he took out his trusty pen-that-turns-into-a-sword, what he saw wasn't the Riptide he was used to seeing. Instead of a regular, disposable pen, what he took out was what looked to be an expensive bronze pen with silver lining, that had the word 'Anaklusmos' engraved on its side in black. _'Whoa, it looks so cool.'_ He thought.

 _"Yes it does, now why don't you uncap it?"_

When he did, Percy's jaw dropped to the floor. While it kept its original shape, the sword got a makeover. Before, it used to be a plain looking bronze xiphos with a leather grip and gold studs on the hilt, but now it was much flashier. On the guard was the word 'Anaklusmos' in bronze. Just above that, on the base of the blade itself was a small triangle with a trident on it. The edges of the blade were now lined with silver. On the upper half of the blade, with stars of glowing silver, was the newest constellation, 'The Huntress', which could also be seen on the pommel. To finish it all off, the entire sword had a swirling aura of sea green and silver. To Percy, only one word could describe Riptide. "Epic," he whispered. He then noticed the shimmering translucent form of Zoe Nightshade in front of him. He instantly thought that what he was experiencing was a dream, not letting himself hope against hope that his friend that he saw die less than 24 hours prior was really in front of him, fearing that if he did, she would disappear forever. He tried pinching himself, but when he looked back up, Zoe was still there. "Okay definitely not a dream."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Of course it's not a dream."

"This is great! Artemis will be so glad to see you!" Percy exclaimed, getting ready to go tell the goddess, but the sad look on Zoe's face stopped him.

She looked at him and shook her head. "Percy, you are the only one who can see me, the only one who can hear me, that is the limit of what I did."

Percy's face deflated. "Oh. What did you do anyway?"

"When Artemis brought my essence out of my body to put me in the stars, I infused some of myself into Anaklusmos, thus anchoring me to this world through the sword. I definitely would have gone to Elysium had I just simply died, but by doing this," she gestured to her shimmering form, "I might be able to help you in this upcoming war with the Titans."

Percy started tearing up. "You sacrificed Elysium just to help me? Thank you, Zoe, this is just..I just don't know what to say to that." He tried to pull her into a hug, but his hands just passed through her.

Zoe just smiled at him. "I'm just a spirit, Percy, so you can't touch me. As for sacrificing Elysium just to help you...well, I'd prefer to be spending my afterlife doing something rather than just lazing around. Anyways, back to what it is that I did. Thanks to what I did, Anaklusmos, and by extension, you as its owner, is much more powerful. A great deal of my soul is infused into that sword, Percy. I can also take control of your body you for a short period of time, in case you get knocked out or need some help, kind of like possession, I suppose."

Percy was a bit confused but didn't let it show on his face. "Oh, cool, I think. Where did you learn to do this anyways?"

Zoe blinked at the unexpected question, and she looked a bit confused before answering. "I-I'm not exactly sure, really. When Artemis took my soul out, I had a great desire to help you Percy, and I think...I think my soul did what it could to accomplish what I wanted. As for how I know all about what I did, I just do, kind of like the information came to me when I anchored my soul to Anaklusmos."

"Huh, anchoring your soul to an object...that sounds like something from some book Annabeth was telling me about before." Percy just shrugged. "Oh yeah, Artemis said something about meeting me in the archery range for some practice, right? At least that's what I think she said, spoke to fast for me to be sure. Is she always like that?"

"Artemis? No. In fact, in all the many years that I have been her Lieutenant, she has never acted in a manner that is remotely close to that. Something's wrong here, so I suggest you keep an eye out. But in the meantime, you should get ready, and fast. I remember this one time when I was still new to the Hunt, I was late for training and Milady made me do all the chores and hunt for food for an entire month! It was absurdly tiring, and from that point on, I made sure to never be late for training with her, ever."

Percy gulped. "It's not like she can do anything like that to me, right?"

"Maybe, I don't know. She might just turn you into a jackalope. Just get ready, fast. You have about 15 minutes to take a shower, freshen up, change into a new set of clothes and get to the archery range," Zoe replied, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Shit!" Percy yelled while he hurriedly took off his clothes, forgetting that Zoe could see him. She blushed and looked away.

 _'Damn it, I shouldn't be feeling like this, I'm dead. He has that Annabeth girl, and I'm just some ghost that only he can see,'_ Zoe thought.

* * *

With years of practicing getting ready quickly, the ability to control water, making showering quick, fear making his legs go faster than normal and probably a bit of luck, Percy made it to the archery range with less than a minute remaining. He found that Artemis and Thalia were waiting for him there. He was about to greet them when he looked into their eyes. He could see many thing in their eyes, most of which he couldn't identify, but the ones that stood out to Percy were what appeared to be love and lust. He thought he was seeing things and really looked into their eyes, only to find them right into front of him. He stumbled back a little, trying to put distance between them. It was then that he noticed other unusual things about the goddess and her Lieutenant. Artemis was in the form of a beautiful 14 year old, the same age as Percy, whereas before she looked much younger. She was also wearing clothes that accentuated her curves and her hair was loose over one shoulder. On the other hand, Thalia was not only wearing make-up, she was also wearing rather revealing clothing.

Percy gulped, not sure about how to handle the situation. "Um, you know, I could just practice by myself, right?"

A slight frown adorned both girls' faces. "Nonsense, why practice by yourself when you can have the best archer in the world to teach you?" Artemis asked him while pulling him closer.

"What? Don't want to spend time with me, cuz? I thought that maybe training together would make this easier for both of us," Thalia said.

Percy realized that they had a point so he decided to go with it, pushing the odd things he noticed into the back of his mind. Percy spent the next hour trying, and failing, to shoot the target properly. Interestingly enough, this wasn't due to his legendarily abysmal bow skills. In fact, most of his shots nearly hit the target that he was aiming for, instead of the usual situation where his arrow ends up hitting somebody behind him or a target somewhere else in the range. He was failing to shoot properly because he couldn't concentrate properly. The reason for this was because his 'instructor' kept on adjusting his posture and aim by pressing her body, especially her breasts, against his and making him mimic her stance, as well as subtly caressing his hand as she adjusted his fingers. Not to mention Thalia, his 'training partner', seemed to have clothes that were either defective or too small. The straps on her tank top would slide down her shoulders and her shorts were much too small.

* * *

After Percy's hour of torture, he was to tired to protest when both girls decided to latch onto one of his arms as they went to breakfast. Percy tried to make conversation with them, but even that proved to be tiring, what with all the innuendoes and teasing from the goddess and semi-immortal demigod. All that happened was all very confusing to Percy, and it made Zoe become very suspicious. Despite the improbability of it all, things got even weirder mid-way to the pavilion. All of a sudden, Artemis blushed bright gold all the way to her ears, with Thalia following behind her with her own red blush. They swiftly let go of Percy, made hasty excuses that Percy couldn't understand and proceeded to run away.

 _"That was beyond odd. Something is up,"_ the voice of Zoe said directly into Percy's head. He nearly jumped, having temporarily forgotten about her, distracted as he was with the strange behavior of the two daughters of Zeus. Zoe grumbled. _"You do realize that I can hear everything that you think, right?"_ Percy donned his own blush at that. _"Speaking of which, I don't exactly appreciate some of the things you thought of during your little 'training session.'"_

 _"HEY! Such thoughts are perfectly normal, if not mellow, for a growing hormonic teenage boy such as myself!"_ Percy thought back defensively.

Zoe sighed and Percy thought he could hear her shaking her head. _"Whatever, I suppose it is excusable, considering how those two acted. Still doesn't mean that I like it."_

 _"What are we going to do about their behavior anyway? Tell someone?"_

 _"Hmm...No. We should just watch out and gather information for now. I have a guess as to what's going on, but I'd rather learn more about whatever this is before saying anything."_

With that, Percy made his way to the pavilion. When he arrived, he noticed that the other hunters were there, and they looked right at him. When he looked in their direction, they all lightly blushed before looking away. Shaking his head with a sigh, Percy sat down at the Poseidon table and began to eat. Every now and then, he would catch the hunters looking his way when they thought he wasn't looking, and whenever he looked in their direction, they would look away. Deciding to just ignore them, Percy looked around the pavilion and noticed that Annabeth wasn't around, which was unusual for the strict daughter of Athena. He just passed it off as her needing more sleep after what she went through.

* * *

Annabeth Chase was lying in her bed in the Athena cabin, contemplating something that her mother would most certainly not approve of. _'How do I tell Percy that I love him?'_ is the question that has been constantly repeating itself in her mind since she woke up from a rather interesting dream. She could still remember it clearly.

* * *

 _Annabeth opened her eyes to find herself in a room that was all pink. The furniture was pink, the walls were pink and even glass windows were pink. Also, there were hearts, everywhere. She felt that strange feeling she always got at the start of a demigod dream. She felt sluggish, her movements were slow, as if there was something constantly pushing against her movements. Everything she saw seemed to be blurry and abnormally bright. She was lightheaded and feeling a bit of vertigo. Annabeth took deep breathes to focus herself. When everything returned to normal, she looked around once more and decided that she was probably in Aphrodite's palace and that the goddess herself called her into this dream. Not knowing what the goddess of love would want with her, she started exploring. As she suspected, most of the doors wouldn't open. When she found a door that would actually open, she wasn't surprised to find that she was in what looked to be the master bedroom and that Aphrodite was there waiting for her. The goddess smiled at her, but she had a mischievous and knowing look in her eyes that put Annabeth on edge._

 _"Welcome to my humble abode, Annabeth Chase," the goddess said, her voice soothing. Annabeth relaxed a little before realizing that there was magic at play. She became tense again and glared at the goddess. Aphrodite chuckled. "Now, now. No need to be so suspicious. You know, being so tense all the time is seriously bad for you. Relax, I'm not going to be doing anything to you, I just want to talk." When Annabeth didn't move or relax, Aphrodite sighed. She snapped her fingers and the room changed to look like a psychiatrist's work place. Aphrodite motioned to the bed where a patient would usually lie down on. Annabeth carefully walked over to it and laid down. She then made a 'go on' motion with her hands. "Annabeth, I know that you love young Perseus." Annabeth choked a little at this. She was about to protest when Aphrodite put up a hand to silence her. "You might not realize it, you might not believe it, but you do love him. The two of you have been best friends since he got to Camp Half-Blood, you have fought together, you have fought each other, you have travelled together and you have hurt together. The two of you have grown incredibly close over the past couple of years, so close that you, without knowing it consciously, have developed feelings for him far beyond those of simple friendship."_

 _Annabeth finally found her voice to protest. "I don't love Percy!"_

 _"Deny it all you want, but deep down, you know it's true. You've slowly started to realize it yourself, haven't you? When you found out that he was coming to save you, didn't your heart leap in joy? Weren't your thoughts of him the fuel that let you withstand the burden of Atlas' Curse? When everyone was fighting, wasn't he the only one you were worried about?" Annabeth was speechless, for she knew that the goddess' words held some truth. "Ah, but these feelings go back far longer, don't they? You really did want to dance with him at that school, didn't you? Weren't you overjoyed to get to see him again when you left for your quest? Doesn't he invade your very thoughts during your every waking hour? Tell me, Annabeth Chase, tell me! Do you love Percy Jackson?"_

 _"I-I...I don't know." Annabeth's head was swimming, her mind trying to comprehend and deny all the things that she was just told. When she calmed down enough to think properly, she was scared. After all the things she has been through, Annabeth Chase was rarely scared of anything. But the thought that she had such feelings for her best friend, had her absolutely terrified. It was made all the more scary as she realized that she didn't just have a crush on Percy, she loved him, truly, honestly loved him. All the things that Aphrodite told her, they were true. Now that she had such valuable information, for the first time in a long time, she didn't know what to do. She looked back at Aphrodite and swallowed hard. "I do love him." She had said, and now there was no going back. A fiery determination lit itself inside of her and burned away all her unease._

 _Aphrodite smiled. "Good, now I suggest you make your move soon, or else some other girl will snatch your boy up. He is developing quite a fanbase I hear." And with that, Annabeth vision blurred and she saw a wide smirk on Aphrodite's face before she opened her eyes to find that she was back in her room._

* * *

Back in the present, Annabeth was contemplating what food Percy liked when her stomach growled. _'Eat food first, then make Percy mine forever'_ she thought. After getting freshened up, she headed to the pavilion for breakfast with a smile on her face.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER 2_**


	3. Chapter 3:Different kind of foes

**Chapter 3:Different kinds of foes**

* * *

Annabeth Chase approached the pavilion intending to eat and maybe even flirt a little with Percy, she did not expect that by the time she finished eating, she would be plotting a massacre. She couldn't believe that of all the people, the supposed man-hating Hunters would be the ones that were giving Percy googly eyes. At first, she believed that they were just trying to access Percy, but as time went on, and the Hunters finished eating, Annabeth realized that so long as Percy wasn't looking, the Hunters' eyes would stayed glued to him. Again, Annabeth believed that the Hunters were trying to get a feel for the kind of person Percy was, that is until Annabeth saw the looks in their eyes, the look of pure want that was so blatantly obvious to anyone who could see them. Of course, very few people were looking in the direction of the Hunters, since most people feared being turned into a pincushion. When Annabeth realized that those girls were probably going to try to take Percy for themselves, she began thinking of ways to neutralize the threat that they posed. Annabeth's first instinct was to kill them, and she went with that. She kept trying to plot ways to kill the 'hypocritical bitches', as she had come to call them, when she dumped into someone, a black-haired, green-eyed someone. She had just bumped into Percy Jackson, her best friend and the person whom she loved.

Percy smiled upon seeing her, and it made her heart throb. "Hey Wise Girl, you feeling better?"

Despite being slightly entranced by Percy's smile, Annabeth knew that Percy wouldn't appreciate her acting like some lovesick teenager, which she technically was. Fueled by her determination to become Percy's and to Percy hers, Annabeth acted completely normally. "Yeah, I'm fine, Seaweed Brain. Where are you heading to?" she asked.

"Hm? Well, I _was_ going to just wander aimlessly around camp, but if you're up for it, how about me and you do some sparring?"

"It's 'you and I', not 'me and you'," Annabeth replied, a teasing tone lacing her words. "To answer your question, I'm still feeling a bit sore from, you know," she said, gesturing to the streaks of white hair that they both gained from the stress of holding up the sky. She noticed Percy started biting his lip and that he adorned a guilty expression on his face, and she frowned. "You have nothing to be guilty about, Seaweed Brain. In fact, you," she poked him in the chest, "were the one who saved me, you were the who saved the world, again. Percy Jackson, I want to make it clear to you that I am fine, I want to make it to you clear that you have nothing to feel guilty about. Zoe and Bianca died for the sake of the quest, and they died while fighting, so you cannot allow yourself to ruin their sacrifice by letting unnecessary guilt eat away at the life they, by dying, let you keep." Percy opened his mouth to say something, but Annabeth cut him off. "No 'buts' Percy, people die all the time, and you have to get past that if you are going to be able to live your life. As for me, it's my fault that I got captured, it's my fault that I let that traitor Luke trick me into taking the weight of the sky from him," Annabeth started tearing up at this point, "and it's my fault that I got used as bait, not yours." She proceeded to wipe the tears from her eyes and face. She sighed. "You know what? I think I am up for that spar now," she said, her irritation obvious even to the supposedly oblivious Percy Jackson. While he looked like he wanted to protest, Percy knew better than to tell Annabeth what to do, so instead, he just nodded and started walking to the arena. Annabeth followed him, after she glared at the crowd that had gathered when people noticed their little scene, and the crowd followed behind, 20 steps behind.

As soon as they had changed into training gear, Annabeth got into a battle stance and brandished her Celestial Bronze dagger. Percy also got into a stance and took out Riptide in its pen form, which Annabeth noticed was different from before. Percy uncapped the pen, and gasps of awe and wonder were echoed all throughout the arena as everyone saw the newly transformed Riptide. "What hap-" Annabeth started to say, but was cut off as Percy leaped at her. She barely dodged, and she noticed that Percy was significantly faster than before. _'This will be a tough fight,'_ Annabeth thought. She had no idea how right she was. In addition to be faster, Percy was more unpredictable than before, making it nearly impossible for Annabeth to predict his moves. This, combined with Annabeth slightly sore body, constantly left the daughter of Athena on the defensive. During the few times she found an opportunity to strike at the skilled swordsman, he would be able to dodge with ease, even when she wasn't in his direct line of sight. Nearing her limit, and noticing that Percy was also tiring, Annabeth became desperate. She thought of a plan that she once read about in a book, it was risky, but if it worked, she would not only be able to turn the tables in an instant, but she would also get a bit of a treat in the end. When she found some breathing room, she lunged at Percy and, instead of trying to stab or slash at him, she kissed him. People 'ooh'ed in the background. The effect was immediate, Percy stiffened and didn't move, obviously shocked by her actions. She took her opportunity to flip him over herself and she then proceeded to pin him down. Percy looked even more shocked for a moment before he laughed.

"Good one, Wise Girl, you got me," he said while smiling up at her. Annabeth was a bit satisfied that Percy had a bright red blush on his face, something which she was certain was mirrored on her own face. After helping helping Percy up, Annabeth retreated into the showers to freshen up as well as contemplate what it was she just did.

As she let the water wash away her sweat, Annabeth began to panic. _'Oh gods, what have I done? I don't think I can look Percy in the eye after THAT. Ugh, I have to fix this somehow.'_

* * *

After literally dumping water on his head and using his powers to dry himself up, Percy Jackson went back to his cabin to cool down and talk to Zoe without making it seem like Dionysus was influencing him. As he lay in his bed, Percy's mind wandered to the match he just had with Annabeth, to the moment that she distracted him, to the moment that his first kiss was stolen by his best friend. His fingers touched his lips for a moment; he could still feel the heat of Annabeth's lips on his. Percy didn't know what to think of that moment, while he wanted to believe that Annabeth just did what she did to take him off guard, a voice in his head, which sounded very feminine, kept telling him that there was more to it than that. Deciding to put off potentially going into unknown territory, Percy started thinking of a more pressing matter: the Hunt.

Percy brought out Riptide and uncapped it. The semi-corporeal form of Zoe Nightshade appeared before him. "Hey Zoe, do you have any idea what's going on with the Hunt?" the demigod asked the half-titan.

"I think I do actually, granted this is just a theory, but it does make a lot of sense. First things first, a little known fact about the Hunt is that Artemis' thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes and even her opinions can influence those of the Hunt, and vise versa, though usually Artemis doesn't let either of those happen. So my theory is that someone, probably Aphrodite, has made Artemis become the way that she is, and as a result, Artemis isn't in full control of her actions and is unconsciously making the members of the Hunt act and feel the same way that she does."

Percy frowned at the revelation. "But why would someone do this? What would they have to gain from this?"

"Like I said, the most likely culprit is Aphrodite, who has been trying to get Artemis to give up her vows of chastity for millennia."

"Huh, okay then. So then this has happened before?"

Zoe shook her head. "No, it hasn't. You see, Aphrodite can't make anyone just make someone love someone else with a snap of her fingers, that person must already have feelings for the other person before Aphrodite can do anything. The goddess of love can influence already existing feelings to an extreme extent, but she cannot make feelings magically appear."

Percy was a little confused, but something about that statement disturbed him. His eyes widened as a thought came into his mind, a thought that seemed so absurd, but it made sense in the current context. "Are you telling me that you think Artemis, the man-hating goddess herself, _liked_ me _before_ Aphrodite did whatever it is she did?!"

Zoe bit her lip before responding. "You haven't known her as long as I have Percy, so I get that this seems a bit difficult to believe, I myself can barely wrap my head around it. Yet, as someone who has been her best friend for a few millennia, when I think about it, this isn't so...unexpected. Sure, the only other time that Artemis has ever shown attraction for a guy was with Orion, and even then she just admired his hunting skill, but for her to like you is...not that weird. Her hatred towards men stems from the way that most men would treat women, and yet you broke every single stereotype that she believed in. You are a male who got my trust, which seemed like something that would never, and yet you still did it. That would probably be enough to make Artemis understand that you aren't so bad, that you are trustworthy. Combined with your actions back _there_ ," Zoe spat the last word out and Percy didn't need to ask to know where _'there'_ is, "and it wouldn't be so absurd that Artemis, who, like any other god or goddess, can feel human emotions, to develop even the tiniest bit of attraction for you. That's all that Aphrodite needs, something that's nearly nonexistent, and she can do so much."

Percy sighed and rubbed his forehead, all the information he had to take in was giving him a headache. "Is there a way to reverse whatever it is that Aphrodite might have done?"

"Not that I know of, unless of course you count trying to confront Aphrodite herself on this."

Percy thought on it for a moment, before he decided that was a very bad idea. She was Ares' girlfriend, so he would have to go through the god of war, which would be more than a little difficult. At least battle and war he knew, that was something he could deal with, but he wasn't the best when it came to emotions. Percy was terrified of what it was that Aphrodite could do to him. He knew physical pain, he knew external suffering, and so he could handle those, but emotional pain was uncharted territory for him. The three times in his life that he could definitively say he felt emotional pain were times he nearly lost the people that he cared for: the time his mom got abducted by Hades, the barrier around Camp Half-Blood nearly failing and, most recently, Annabeth getting kidnapped. Those were times that he couldn't soldier through the pain, he couldn't ignore the pain, because he knew that the pain might not be temporary. Cuts and bruises can heal, but when you lose something that you care about, you permanently lose a part of yourself, and no matter how much you move on from it, you can never completely heal. _'Loss...death,'_ were the thoughts that plagued Percy's mind. _'Died...Zoe...Bianca...Nico...NICO'_

Percy sat up abruptly, nearly falling off his bed. "SHIT! I have to go find Nico, I got to make he's okay," Percy said as he capped Riptide and left his cabin. Percy had been too busy dealing with his own problems that he completely forgot about Nico. Percy immediately went to the Hermes cabin, all the while asking people he passed by if they had seen the little kid, most of whom just shrugged in response. When he arrived at the Hermes cabin, he could hear shuffling inside. Not bothering to knock, Percy opened the door to find that half of the Hermes cabin was panicking. "Guys, what's the matter? Did something happen? And where is Nico?"

Travis, one of the co-councillors for the Hermes cabin looked at Percy with a grim expression. "Nico is the problem, Percy. We can't find a trace of him anywhere, we've searched all around camp and the woods and still nothing. Chiron is making us keep quiet about the whole thing, but we're really worried about the kid."

Percy nodded his head and left, saying that he would also look for Nico, a guilty look on his face. Percy started with the woods. He was looking for a while before he came across the rock formation that was dubbed 'Zeus' Fist'. Percy decided to take a rest and leaned against the base of it, but he had leaned against an opening and stumbled backwards. As he tried to regain his balance, his hand brushed against a delta symbol that was imprinted in the rock, and the floor opened up below him and he fell into darkness.

* * *

Artemis wasn't aware that someone had messed with her mind and her feelings. In fact, she believed her borderline obsession with Percy Jackson was perfectly natural, despite the fact that she didn't even know him for long, or really knew him at all. She also didn't find her constantly changing moods to be odd in the slightest. Such were the effects of a potion made by Aphrodite.

The potion Aphrodite had accidentally given Artemis was an experimental one that was meant to last forever. The way the potion and its magic work is that they are designed to first trick the body into thinking that it, the potion, is naturally produced by the body, to ensure that the body doesn't try to fight it. Then it alters the mind and the intended effects of the potion were that the one who consumed it would randomly switch between absolutely adoring the person that they originally liked, and completely loathing that person. Once the mind-alterations started, the magic would begin to synthesize more of the potion using the chemicals released by the brain when the consumer felt certain feelings, mostly those that it was designed to make the consumer feel, and this allows the potion to constantly be at work without the need to re-administer it. However, Aphrodite was still working out the kinks when she accidentally gave the potion to Artemis. Thus, instead of switching between simply adoring and hating the object of her originally very small crush, Artemis was now switching between being something akin to an aggressive fangirl, and being a very shy stalker.

Currently, Artemis was in her stalker persona and she was looking around for Percy. She noticed him entering the woods and followed behind very slowly, jumping into the trees when she could. She observed him very closely, watching the way he moved, memorizing all the little quirks that he himself wasn't he had. She was curious as to what Percy was looking for, so she listened intently when she noticed him mumbling to himself.

"Gotta find Nico...must apologize..."

Artemis realized what Percy was doing and frowned. _'So that kid has gone missing, and now Percy thinks its his fault and and that he has to apologize? It wasn't Percy's fault that Bianca died, so it's not his fault that this brat ran away,'_ were her thoughts, but being as shy as she currently was, Artemis simply kept quiet and just simply watched Percy. When Percy laid down to rest, Artemis began imagining having a picnic with him at that spot. She almost missed seeing him fall into the opening in 'Zeus' Fist', and when she realized that she couldn't see any part of Percy, she went over to investigate. She found that Percy was gone and got worried, so she looked around for a few minutes trying to find a sign of where the demigod had gone.

It wasn't until ten minutes had passed did Artemis notice the delta symbol in the rocks. She realized what must have happened: Percy fell into the Labyrinth. She quickly pressed the delta and an opening appeared in the floor. She jumped down and found Percy unconscious on the ground. Before she could pick him up, Artemis' godly hearing picked up the sound of hissing from close by, and it was coming closer. Artemis took out her hunting knives and inched towards the direction the hissing was coming from and when she rounded the corner, she found a few dracaene wandering around, as if searching for something. Deciding to hit first and ask questions later, the goddess of the hunt swiftly took care of the monsters, and they literally didn't know what hit them.

It was at that moment that Artemis realizes that the Labyrinth was changing around her. She went back to Percy and checked him for injuries, and, having found nothing but a few scratches, Artemis picked him in such a way that she was giving him a piggyback ride. She searched around for a delta symbol, but to her horror, she found none. So Artemis, who was feeling rather skittish being so close to Percy, was stuck in the Labyrinth with no immediate exit available. Her eye twitched slightly, feeling rather annoyed at the misfortune that had befallen her.

She squeaked when she heard Percy mumble, nearly letting go of him in her surprise. Artemis' calm demeanor began to give way to a panicked one. Another thing of note about the potion, while in a stressful and dangerous situation, the magic of the potion in her system automatically suppressed itself, allowing the person to think more clearly. However, Artemis' situation wasn't so dangerous now that there were no immediate enemies around. This meant that the potion was running through her system mostly unimpaired, and this made traversing around the Labyrinth very difficult for Artemis, who was constantly thinking of other ways to drag Percy without being so close to him, or how nice he smelled. The potion flooded Artemis' mind with so many thoughts of Percy that she didn't even consider trying to teleport out of the legendary maze. Luckily, the duo, which was made up of a constantly flustered goddess and an unconscious demigod, encountered very few monsters, and the ones that they came across were nothing in the face of the goddess of the hunt.

20 minutes after Artemis started walking around in an effort to find an exit, Percy woke up abruptly. The demigod had an unpleasant dream, not necessarily a nightmare, but what he saw in it made him uncomfortable. Percy's body stiffened when he awoke, and he subsequently tried to flail around when he found himself being carried. His flailing around, combined with Artemis' state of mind, caused the goddess to lose balance and the two of them ended up on the floor, with Artemis on top of faces were mere inches apart, and they could smell each other's breath.

Percy noticed her eyes before anything else. In that moment, to him, they were mesmerizing like nothing he had seen before. Being silver, her eyes had a grey hue to them, but unlike Annabeth's hard and steely eyes, Artemis' glowed with an otherworldly light that made them seem to be so very far away, and this made Percy want to just stare at them longer. _'Like the moon,'_ Percy thought in his trance-like state. Percy could see the power that her eyes held, the power that Artemis held, and yet, he saw that the seasoned warrior was also a gentle caretaker of the wilderness. Percy saw that behind her usually tough facade, Artemis could be a big softy. Percy could see the desire that burned in Artemis' eyes, and at that moment, he wasn't sure that he would refuse her if she asked anything of him. It never occurred to Percy that his thoughts and feelings at that point in time were strange, considering he didn't know Artemis for that long, much less know her well.

Artemis, for her part, was completely enthralled by twin green orbs right in front of her. Somewhere in the part of her mind that could still think, Artemis made a conclusion: she could stare at Percy's eyes forever. At first glance, his eyes were just like his father's, full of life and a vibrant shade of green. Normally, Poseidon's eyes resembled the sea at it's calmest, but most in the immortal world knew that they could change into a terrifyingly violent storm on a moment's notice, and Percy's eyes were much the same in that regard. But Percy's eyes held a few things that Poseidon either doesn't have, or the god of the sea lost long ago. Percy's eyes held youth and energy that has long since been lost to his father, they showed mischief as daunting as the deepest oceans, they contained determination as constant and as unchanging as the tides, and most of all, they held hope, hope that was as vast as the seas themselves. It was these things that set Percy apart from his father, it was these things that made Percy so wonderful in Artemis' eyes.

By some unheard command, the two of them looked at each other's lips and they began leaning into each other. Their breathing quickened and they closed their eyes.

* * *

When Annabeth finished her shower and changed, she found a note under her cap. It was written in very curly script using pick ink, which made reading the note _very_ annoying with her dyslexia. It took her nearly ten minutes, but she was able to make out what it said:

 _"Dear Ms. Chase,_

 _I have to say that what you did in the arena was quite bold, and I loved it!_

 _Now, I'll give you a bit of a warning:_

 _Your biggest competition for Percy is always going to be Artemis,_

 _and don't underestimate her, she is not to be taken likely._

 _Best of luck in your love life, and remember that I'll be watching you_

 _Love,_ _Aphrodite._

 _P.S. Percy loves the movie Finding Nemo, just saying._

 _P.P.S. GO PERCABETH!"_

Annabeth didn't know how she was supposed to feel about what she just read. Apparently, her love rival was none other that the supposedly biggest man-hater in the world. Annabeth knew however, that no matter what her reputation was, Artemis was now in the way of her goal to be with Percy. This is made all the more difficult by the fact that the goddess was that, a _goddess_. Annabeth knew she had a long road ahead of her, but first, she had to find a way to watch this 'Finding Nemo'. She also had find out just in the world was a 'Percabeth', but for some reason, the demigod was sure that she wouldn't like answer to that.


End file.
